St. Petersburg Museum of Toys

The first private museum in St. Petersburg and the second toy museum in Russia was created in 1997. The idea of the museum is that a toy is not only a unique phenomenon of material culture, but also an artwork, a special kind of art in which ancient national traditions and the most modern trends and styles are intertwined.

The collection of the museum has more than 17 thousand items - these are Russian and foreign games and toys: folk, industrial, and copyright. Including the museum’s fund, there are such unique pieces as games and toys of China of the 5th century, games and toys of Africa in the second half of the 20th century, a collection of original Christmas-tree decorations of the 1930s by the artist E.N. Topornina and the shadow theater of Indonesia vayang purvo.

In the museum on Karpovka, the toy is not only on display, but also “lives”: participates in performances, is created at master classes, plays with the smallest visitors in the game library, and becomes the subject of discussion at lectures.

The museum hosts exhibitions of art dolls and toys, rare thematic collections from private collections.